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Authorities find, charge driver who crashed van into marsh

Published: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at 9:05 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at 9:05 p.m.

Bringing resolution to an almost nonstop two-day search, North Carolina troopers on Wednesday tracked down the driver who vanished after flipping a van into a marsh on River Road in New Hanover County.

David Lee Marley Jr., 40, faces counts of driving while license revoked, reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident, said Trooper B.C. Baxley, who located Marley Wednesday evening at his girlfriend’s house on Horn Road.

Troopers had been trying to find the driver of the van since being dispatched to the scene on River Road, near Cathay Road, about 9 p.m. Monday. A reconstruction of events showed the driver of the van lost control, ran off the road into a culvert on the right and ramped over a driveway. The van likely went airborne before landing in the marsh and rolling on its hood, troopers said.

Initially, authorities thought the driver might have been ejected from the vehicle, so they called in canine teams to comb the marsh and even launched a helicopter to search from above. After more than a day of searching did not turn up a body, troopers suspended the effort and, presuming the driver was still alive, refocused their attention on finding him.

Trooper Baxley got an anonymous tip Wednesday that led him to Marley’s girlfriend’s house, where he found Marley.

Baxley said Marley told him a good Samaritan stopped and took him home after the crash.

“He (Marley) said that he was very disoriented and didn’t know what to do,” Baxley recalled.

Marley was injured in the wreck but had not sought medical treatment until Wednesday when, after being charged, he agreed to go to the hospital, Baxley said.